[Reproductive phenology of three vegetation types from a coastal plain of Paraguana Penninsula, Venezuela].

Reproductive phenology of 51 plant species was evaluated according to life form and vegetation types in a coastal plain of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Estado Falcón, Venezuela. Plant species distribution according to three vegetation types (herbaceous littoral, herbaceous psamophil, and mangrove area) was determined. Life form frequency was different according to vegetation type. Herbaceous littoral and herbaceous psamophil vegetation were dominated by herbaceous species; woody species were mostly frequent in the mangrove vegetation. Phenological data revealed that 14 (27.5%) plant species flower and fruit year-round; 23 (45.1%) plant species flower and fruit at the beginning of the wet season; seven (13.7%) plant species flower at the end of wet season, and seven (13.7%) more flower at the beginning of the dry season. Flowsring and fruiting phenology showed similar frequency distribution during the year; reproductive phenology was independent of life forms. Flowering and fruiting peaks occurred during the rainy season and the beginning of the dry season for trees and perennial herbs, and from one to three months later for shrubs and annual herbs. The lowest proportion of flowering and fruiting occurred before rain increase for all life forms. Flowering and fruiting phenologies were similar for the three vegetation types evaluated: flowering peak occurred during the lowest value of precipitation, three to four months after precipitation peak, and fruiting peak occurred four months later from the precipitation peak. These results suggest that flowering and fruiting phenology were not affected by life form and vegetation types. The peaks of flowering and fruiting during the lowest values of precipitation may be considered as a slow and late response to the precipitation maximum, and to the proximity between maximum and minimum of precipitation.